Caitlin McKinney

No. 14 Irish Roll To 13-9 Win Over No. 19 Loyola (Md.)

March 16, 2006

Final Stats

(Wellington, Fla.) – The 14th-ranked Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team ran its’ record to 7-0 to start the 2006 season with a 13-9 win over No. 19 Loyola College on Thursday night in front of a crowd of 1,492 at the Village Park Sports Complex as part of CSTV’s Spring Fling.

Sophomore Caitlin McKinney (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) led the Irish attack with three goals and two assists for five points on the evening. Freshman standout Jillian Byers (Northport, N.Y.) added three goals while Crysti Foote (Sr., Suffern, N.Y.) and Jane Stoeckert (Fr., Mendham, N.J.) added two goals each in the victory.

The Greyhounds were led by Talia Shacklock who had three goals and an assist. Kate McHarg and Emily Lawrence each scored two goals for Loyola.

The win improved Notre Dame to 7-0 overall and 1-0 in BIG EAST play. Loyola College, in its first year as an associate member of the BIG EAST fell to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in league.

The Irish got off to a slow start in their first game outdoors since the season-opening weekend in California.

McHarg, who had nine goals in her last game for Loyola, scored just 34 seconds into the game to give the Greyhounds a 1-0 lead. Shacklock (26:46) and Lawrence made it 3-0 by the 21:59 mark for Loyola.

Mary Carpenter got the Irish offense back on track when she converted a McKinney feed at 19:51 to cut the lead to 3-1. McKinney then made it 3-2 with her first of three on the night and the first of four Notre Dame free-position goals at 17:30.

Loyola answered with two free-position goals in a 2:02 span by Lawrence and Sydney Greene to give the Greyhounds their second three-goal lead of the game at 5-2.

Slowly but surely, the Irish clawed their way back into the game. Byers got her first of the game off a Heather Ferguson set up at 13:21 and Stoeckert cut the lead to 5-4 with her first of two at 12:27.

Shacklock got the lead back to 6-4 at 10:02 before the Irish tied the score at 4:52 on goals by McKinney and a Ferguson free-position shot.

The Greyhounds would take their final lead of the game with 3:33 left in the first half when Shacklock set up Meg Taylor for a shot that beat Irish goalkeeper Carol Dixon under the cross bar.

McKinney capped her three-goal game with a free-position marker at 1:38 and the half would end with the two teams tied at 7-7.

The second half belonged to the Irish as Notre Dame’s defense slammed the door on Loyola, allowing just two goals in the final 30 minutes.

Foote, who was held off the scoreboard in the first half, put the Irish ahead to stay at 25:28 of the second half with her team-best 28th goal of the season, making it 8-7, while starting a run of three straight goals for Notre Dame.

Byers made it 9-7 off a McKinney assist at 20:25 and Kaki Orr would get the eventual game winner with a free-position goal at 18:56 for a 10-7 Irish lead.

McHarg broke the Irish run with her second goal of the game for Loyola with 16:06 left in the game only to see Notre Dame go on another three-goal run.

Stoeckert made it 11-8 with her second goal of the night and Foote followed with her second at 7:47 for a 12-8 lead. Byers closed the Irish scoring with 2:50 left off a great feed from Alicia Billings for a 13-8 lead.

Shacklock closed the evening’s scoring with her third of the game with 1:59 left for the final of 13-9.

In the game, the Irish had 38 shots for the game with Loyola’s Alex Piraino making 11 saves for Loyola. Dixon finished with eight saves on the night for Notre Dame.

For the Irish, things don’t get any easier as they fly from Boca Raton, Fla., to Chicago, Ill., to face the defending national champion and current No. 1 ranked Northwestern Wildcats on Sunday, March 19 at 1:00 p.m. (CST). The game will be played in Evanston, Ill., on Northwestern’s turf field near the football stadium.

Game Summary                    1   2   -  F#19 Loyola (Md.) (3-3/1-1)      7   2   -  9#14 Notre Dame (7-0/1-0)        7   6   - 13
First-Half ScoringTime Team Score Goal Assist29:26 Loy 0-1 Kate McHarg26:46 Loy 0-2 Talia Shacklock21:59 Loy 0-3 Emily Lawrence19:51 ND 1-3 Mary Carpenter Caitlin McKinney17:30 ND 2-3 * Caitlin McKinney Free-position goal16:06 Loy 2-4 * Emily Lawrence (2) Free-position goal14:04 Loy 2-5 * Sydney Greene Free-position goal13:21 ND 3-5 Jillian Byers Heather Ferguson12:27 ND 4-5 Jane Stoeckert10:02 Loy 4-6 Talia Shacklock (2) 8:57 ND 5-6 Caitlin McKinney (2) Jane Stoeckert 4:52 ND 6-6 * Heather Ferguson Free-position goal 3:33 Loy 6-7 Meg Taylor Talia Shacklock 1:38 ND 7-7 * Caitlin McKinney (3) Free-position goal
Second-Half ScoringTime Team Score Goal Assist25:28 ND 8-7 Crysti Foote Mary Carpenter20:25 ND 9-7 Jillian Byers (2) Caitlin McKinney (2)18:56 ND 10-7 * Kaki Orr Free-position goal16:06 Loy 10-8 Kate McHarg (2)11:15 ND 11-8 Jane Stoeckert Meaghan Fitzpatrick 7:47 ND 12-8 Crysti Foote (2) 2:50 ND 13-8 Jillian Byers (3) Alicia Billings 1:59 Loy 13-9 Talia Shacklock (3) Alicyn Brunnett
GoalkeepersLoyola - Alex Piraino (60:00 min.; 13 goals, 11 saves)
Notre Dame - Carol Dixon (60:00 min.; 9 goals, 8 saves)